Siddharth Kara

This remarkable, riveting book about a famous event of nearly two and a half centuries ago finds a raft of new information that generations of historians (myself included) have missed. And the episode involved was not just one more atrocity onboard a slave ship at sea; it was the spark that helped ignite the greatest human rights movement of all time.

Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold's Ghost, Bury the Chains, and American Midnight

A Tale of Greed and Murder that Inspired the Abolition of Slavery

The Zorg is a riveting account of the seafaring drama and ensuing legal battle surrounding one of the most consequential slave ships of the 18th century whose voyage changed the course of history, yet remains largely unknown. 
 
Drawing on a trove of archival material, New York Times bestselling author Siddharth Kara uncovers new details of the Zorg's voyage and takes the reader on a gripping journey from the Netherlands to Africa’s Gold Coast before loading its human cargo and heading onto Jamaica on its ill-fated journey to fuel the lucrative sugar trade. 
 
A series of unpredictable weather events and navigational errors led the ship drastically off course, running low on supplies. To save the crew and the most valuable slaves, the ship's captain decided to throw over a hundred slaves, mostly women and children, overboard. 
 
What followed is a fascinating legal drama in England’s highest court that turned the brutal business of slavery into front page news. For the first time, concepts such as human rights and morality entered the discourse on slavery, in a notorious case that boiled down to a simple but profound question: were the Africans on board the Zorg people or cargo? 
 
The case of the Zorg catapulted the nascent anti-slavery movement to one of the most consequential moral campaigns that changed the course of history.

Siddharth Kara

Praise for The Zorg

This remarkable, riveting book about a famous event of nearly two and a half centuries ago finds a raft of new information that generations of historians (myself included) have missed. And the episode involve ...

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter